A Gift For Lila
by W. R. Winters
Summary: Lila was was lot of things, but Marinette never would've taken Lila to be a Scrooge. However, Lila hating Christmas seems to have opened up an opportunity that can help her. With a bit of miraculous magic Marinette plans to give Lila a very special gift. And that gift, is the chance to make a choice. This is a Christmas Carol Parody with some Lila redemption. Don't like, don't read
1. Chapter 1

**Hello any and all readers, before we begin may I just say thanks for taking the time to click on and read my story, hopefully it does its job of keeping you interested in this story and continue reading.**

**This story is a parody of **_**'A Christmas Carol'**_**, and if you cannot tell by the title, the Scrooge of our story will be the liar just about everyone in this fandom loves to hate; Lila Rossi.**

**I decided to go with Lila because normally MLB Christmas Carol parodies are usually centered around Gabriel or even Chloe, so I thought I'd change things up a little bit.**

**Also the cover art for this story was done by my very dear friend Starskulls, i highl recommend you check her out!**

**Well, enough stalling, I'm sure you've already grown bored of me, so let's get to what you're here for. Enjoy!**

**-*X*x*X*-**

* * *

Chapter 1: A Scrooge

* * *

Light grey clouds filled the sky above the spirit of Paris, snowflakes slowly falling to the ground that was already covered with a layer of snow. The lampposts were decorated with wreaths, lights lined the buildings, and the sounds of carols filled the air. The shop windows were filled with their annual holiday displays. It was Christmas-time in Paris, one of the greatest times of the year. A season of peace, giving, spending time with family, friends, and other loved ones alike. It was also a season of holiday parties and overworking bakeries to provide treats for said parties.

As was the case for the parents of a certain spotted superhero.

* * *

"I'm sorry we can't help you more with your party preparations, Marinette," Tom said as he and his wife were both working hard to get the bakery's Christmas orders finished, "This is just one of our biggest Christmas orders we've ever gotten and we have our hands full," A few weeks prior her parents had received a massive order over the phone for a Christmas party, Marinette didn't know who it was for, the name on the order was a 'Camille Eon', she didn't recognize the name, must've been for some corporate party or something.

Marinette offered her parents a smile, "You guys have so much work to do that it wouldn't feel right to add to your workload," she said, "Once I get back from school I'll be sure to give you both a helping hand!" She said, give both her mama and papa a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day at school, Sweetie," her mother called after her as the teen walked out the door.

As the pigtailed girl walked to school, her purse opened and a pink kwami with black spots and blue eyes poked her head out of the purse she was hiding in, "Marinette, are you sure you'll be able to help out your parents? You still have a lot of work to do for your own Christmas Party."

Yes, even Marinette was throwing a small Christmas party for her, her classmates at school, and a few of her friends outside of school. Nothing crazy, just a small get together so her friends could enjoy some of her baked goods, exchange gifts, and sing Christmas carols…and maybe get a certain boy to join her under the mistletoe.

Hoping the cold was hiding her blushing cheeks, Marinette looked down at her purse, "I've already gotten most of the gifts done and I can finish them tonight if I stay up. So I still have a few days until my party, refreshments can wait." She said, "I need to make sure everyone is still coming anyway so that I don't make too much,"

Marinette had told everyone about her party weeks ago and they were all very excited, but since last minute schedule changes or family vacations could happen that didn't guarantee that everyone was coming. So she needed to see who was still able to come so she could make enough food. Of course she could always donate the extras, but she also needed to know which Christmas presents she wouldn't be able to hand out at the party and would need to give them on a different day. But regardless, she was sure that whoever could make it, she'd have a fun holiday with them.

* * *

"You can't come?!"

Alya smiled apologetically, "Sorry Girl, something came up," she asked, "You understand, right?"

Marinette sighed, "Yeah, I guess," she said, it was definitely a let down that her best friend couldn't come to the party, "So, if you don't mind me asking, what came up? Family stuff? Are you going out of town? If you're going out of town you'll have to tell me when so I can-" Marinette was interrupted by Alya putting her hands on her shoulders.

"Whoa there Girl, slow down," Alya said with a slight laugh, causing Marinette's cheeks to go a little pink from embarrassment, "Also, no nothing like that."

"Then...why can't you come?" Marinette asked, her embarrassment morphing into confusion.

* * *

"Lila!"

In their classroom, the Italian girl in question, who was handing out invitations to more of their classmates, turned around to see Marinette marching towards her, "Oh hey, Marinette," Lila said, smiling at her as she approached, "Just the girl I was looking for, just a second," she said before flipping through her remaining invitations.

"Alya told me that you're throwing a Christmas party of her own. Is that true?" Marinette asked.

Lila nodded, "Yeah, but if you're unhappy that you weren't invited don't worry. I have your invitation right here," she said, pulling an invitation from the small stack and holding it out to her.

"That's not what this is about," Marinette said, taking the invitation and looking it over, it was definitely authentic and looked well done, "And my name is spelled wrong," she said, pointing to the name 'Marionette', that was inscribed in gold lettering.

"It is?" Lila asked, taking it back and looking it over, "I am so sorry Marinette, I should've checked them when I went to pick them up. If you like I can go back and get it redone," she said, looking apologetic.

Marinette sighed, Lila had clearly done this on purpose, but she was getting off point here, "No, its fine, but what isn't fine is that the time and day of your party is the same time as mine," Marinette said.

Lila blinked, pulled out her phone, and started scrolling, "...You're right, they are the same time. Looks like I'm oh for two," she said, "Again, I'm really sorry Marinette, I guess when I started to make the arrangements I got so caught up in everything that I forgot to check the dates."

"Is there any way to change the date of your party, Lila?" Marinette asked, really trying not to get frustrated, Lila was really playing the innocent card hard this time.

As expected, Lila shook her head, "Sorry, but everything was so short notice the only day I could have everything ready in time," she said.

Probably the most believable thing Lila had said, in Marinette's opinion.

"Plus, it was the only time Ladybug and Chat Noir could come," Lila said.

Marinette looked down at the invitation, sure enough inscribed at the bottom, 'There will be gift bags, music, and a special guest appearance by Ladybug and Chat Noir'.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "You convinced Ladybug and Chat Noir to go to your party?" she certainly had no memory of Lila asking her to show up at her party. She doubted that she asked Chat Noir too, and even if she did. Chat would've told her about it. Well, that definitely explains why Alya bailed on her.

She nodded, "Yep, it almost didn't happen though. They have such a busy schedule being superheroes and all, but since I'm their friend they were able to make some room," Lila said.

"And if they don't come?"

The girls, along with the rest of the class, looked to see Adrien putting his stuff down next to his seat. Nobody was sure when he had come in or how much he heard.

"I doubt they wouldn't," Lila said, "They already said they would, and so many of our class are big fans of them. I don't think they'd like letting down their fans like that," the other classmates seemed to agree with her, even Marinette and Adrien had to agree, "Well, what about you Marinette? Any way you can change the date of your party? I'm sure everyone would love to attend both," All eyes were now on Marinette.

Marinette could guess where this was going, it felt familiar to when seats were being swapped around, she would need to choose her words carefully, "If I knew you were planning a Christmas party when I sent out invitations to mine then I probably could've, but you guys have known about my Christmas party for weeks so after so much time has been put into it, I don't think it would be possible to change it this close to the date." She felt that was a good way to explain this civilly.

Lila's expression showed no signs of what Marinette said affecting her, "Well, if your party means that much to you, then I can just cancel mine," she said, certainly getting a reaction from the class, "It's just that it's my first Christmas in Paris, and I thought throwing a big party would be a good way to thank you all for being so kind to me and-"

"Lila," Marinette said, cutting her off. She could already see the looks people were giving her, she wasn't going to let Lila turn everyone against her...again, "I'm not telling you to cancel your party, I'm just…" she sighed, "I guess I was just upset about everyone going to your party instead of mine, but I just can't compete with Ladybug," Marinette said.

"Well don't worry too much about that. We'll still try to make it to your party Marinette," Alya said, feeling a tiny bit guilty, "Once Lila's party is over then we can all head over to yours, right guys?" The class wholeheartedly agreed with Alya, which did make Marinette feel a tiny bit better, but not by much.

"Alright, class, find your seats and lets begin," Miss Bustier said walking into class, "Just because we're this close to the holidays doesn't mean there still isn't learning to be done, open your books to page 394," she said.

Everyone walked to their seats, but Marinette paused when she walked by Adrien, "Can you make it to my party?" She asked, seeing as she wasn't quite sure if Adrien would've been able to make it even before Lila announced her party.

The blond shrugged, "I'll try, but I need my father's permission, after what happened last year he's probably a bit more cautious over where I go during the holidays, but if I get the all clear I'll definitely be coming, and I'll bring Kagami too."

"Great," Marinette said with a smile, it was reassuring that the one person on her side when it came to Lila would at least try and make it to her party. She went back to her seat and pulled out her textbook.

As for the possibility of Adrien bring Kagami...it gave her mixed feelings. After what happened with Heart Hunter as well as Miracle Queen, it seemed to be quite clear that Adrien and Kagami belonged together. At least Marinette liked Kagami and was friends with her, it was better than Adrien being with Chloe and far better than him being with Lila. But still, it didn't make things easy.

Even if she did have Luka, who she still needed to confirm if he was coming, it didn't make her crush on the Agreste heir go away.

* * *

The school day went by both quickly and slowly at the same time for everyone, but once the final been rang. It was one big race to see who would be the first to get started on their holiday break. Alix was the first out the door, though Kim only lost to her by a split second.

Marinette however wasn't in as big of a rush to start her holiday break just yet, call it holiday optimism, but she needed to try reasoning with Lila one more time. It was probably pointless to do so, but still. There was no harm in trying again.

It didn't take long to find her, and she was alone too, which is what she was hoping for. Being alone with Lila was perhaps the only way Marinette could get Lila to be honest with her.

"Lila, wait!" Marinette called out, catching up to her.

Lila looked over her shoulder, and with a eye roll she turned around, "What do you want?" She asked as she folded her arms, making it quite clear that she couldn't care less.

"Does your party really have to be on that date and time? Are you sure that there isn't any way you can change it?" Marinette asked sincerely, "I've been working and planning my party for such a long time and…" Marinette tried not to make it look like she was forcing the next words out, "If you really are such good friends with Ladybug and Chat Noir, I'm sure they wouldn't mind rescheduling. So...please?"

Lila's face seemed sweet and sympathetic, "Awww, poor sweet little Marinette," she said, reaching offer and softly patting Marinette's cheek, and for a split second Marinette felt a bit of hope.

But that hope was quickly doused when Lila began to laugh, "But why on earth would I do that? I picked that date and time because it's exactly when your party will be happening." Lila said, that cunning smile coming onto her face, "You're not the only one that's been planning for a while, but my plan is going to make sure that all of your friends will be at my party, not yours." Lila said, "And I heard what Adrien said to you back in class, and I'm just letting you know now. I wouldn't count on him coming either

Marinette sighed, "Just another battle in the war," she said to herself, she couldn't even get a break from that during the holidays. To be honest, now that Adrien and Kagami were pretty much a couple now, she really couldn't understand why this war was still going on to begin with, "Lila come on, be reasonable here. It's Christmas, can't we put aside the war until after winter break and just enjoy the holiday season?"

Lila only scoffed, "Why does that matter and why should I care of its Christmas? It's a stupid holiday," she said, then she leaned forward so that her face was dangerously close to Marinette's, she tried not to think about the fact that if Lila's face was any closer then she'd be kissing her.

"But what does matter is something I'm truly looking forward to," Lila said in a low voice, "You being alone with no friends on Christmas, because they'll all be having way too much fun at my party that they'll forget all about you and your dumb little party. I think I'll even get Adrien to join me under the mistletoe too," she said.

Before Marinette could retort, Lila turned around and began walking away from her, "Oh, and one more thing," she said looking over your shoulder, "Be sure to tell your parents that Camille sends her regards and is looking forward to their catering," she said, blowing Marinette a kiss before resuming her leave.

Her last comment confused the pigtailed girl, but after thinking over it her eyes widened as it clicked, "Camille, Camille...Eon, Chameleon!"

Lila was the one that made the large order, she must've done it to keep her parents busy so that they couldn't help her with her party preparations, and since they were catering...that meant that her parents would be forced to attend Lila's party and miss hers!

"She really has been planning this out," Marinette said, "She's worse than Hawkmoth!"

Tikki opened Marinette's purse from the inside and poked her head out, "Sorry Marinette, but don't worry, you won't be completely alone this Christmas, Adrien said he'd do his best to come and he'll have Kagami with him, plus you'll have me," she said with a smile.

Marinette smiles down at the Kwami, "Thanks Tikki," she said before looking back in the direction Lila had gone, "I guess I really shouldn't be surprised, but still. Lila thinking Christmas is stupid? What a Scrooge." She said, feeling a little bit of pity towards her.

Tikki's eyes widened before flying out of the purse and hovering in front of Marinette's face, "Marinette, I think I have an idea!"

Marinette was shocked, "Tikki, go back into hiding, someone could see you," she said, but Tikki didn't seem to care, "What idea?"

"I'll explain when we get home, but we'll need the spellbook!" Tikki said, her determination only confusing Marinette further.

"The spellbook?" She asked, Tikki nodded, "Okay?" Tikki flew back into the purse and Marinette began her walk home, trying to figure out why they would need the spellbook for this.

* * *

Meanwhile with Lila, she was feeling quite pleased with herself, everything seemed to be going along swimmingly. Not to mention that she definitely enjoyed listening to Marinette practically beg her just then. Oh poor naive Marinette, it was almost pitiful.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

Turning towards the voice, Lila could see that it belonged to a woman that was clearly homeless, and she was approaching her. She had hoped that the woman was talking to anyone else, but she was the only one there, unfortunately.

"Please, any spare change?" She asked as she got closer, "It's very cold and even a small amount will help,"

Lila did a very good job of hiding her disgust, the woman probably thought she was christmas shopping and thought she could get any change out of her so she could afford her next drum fix.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid I don't, "Lila lied effortlessly, putting on one of her best sympathetic looks, "I wish I could help, and I'm afraid I can't stay or I'll miss my bus," she lied, hoping that would be enough to make the woman lose interest.

"Oh, I see," The woman said, clearly disappointed.

Lila didn't say anything more and started to walk away, this time a bit quicker to make it seem more like she was in a rush.

Behind her she heard the woman call out to her, "Have a merry Christmas!"

She only scoffed while rolling her eyes, "Unlikely, I hate Christmas." She muttered to herself.

* * *

**-*X*x*X*-**

**And that should do it for the first chapter. How did I do? Does everyone seem in character? I certainly hope so, I do want to do this right after all.**

**In case you couldn't tell, this story takes place after Season 3, which means that Marinette is the Guardian of the Miraculous. However it also means that there will be some Adrigami and Lukanette in this story, don't worry though there will be some Adrinette present as well. This story isn't all that centered around the love square anyway so it won't be that much of a focus anyway.**

**Anyway, hopefully you guys enjoyed this and want to see more. I'll do my best to upload more chapters often, my goal/upload schedule is one chapter every week on Wednesday, so if all goes well I'll have another chapter for you next week!**

**Be sure to leave a review telling me your thoughts, what you liked/disliked, and also try to fit in any predictions or guesses as to what I have planned and how I'm gonna pull this off!**

**QotC (Question of the Chapter): Now that Season 3 is over, what do you guys think Season 4 has in store for us?**

**See y'all next week, this is W.R. Winters, signing off.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back all returning readers and greetings to any new readers joining us. It's Wednesday so that means you guys get a new chapter.**

**To be honest i was almost afraid that i would miss my deadline, I basically wrote this entire chapter in the past 48-72 hours. Hopefully that doesn't effect the quality of the chapter. The last thing i want is to lose all the people interested in this story.**

**Speaking of which, I'd just like to take a moment to thank all of you that took the time to read this. Personally i wasn't expecting this much of a response. So really, thank you.**

**Alright, enough of the mush, let's get to this week's chapter!**

**-*X*x*X*-**

* * *

Chapter 2: Renewal?

* * *

Lila returned home fairly quickly after her run-in with the homeless woman, both because she didn't want to go through another interaction like the one she just had, but also because she just wanted and needed to get inside and out of the cold.

Closing the front door behind her, Lila breathed a sigh of relief, her skin tingling all over as she felt the rush of heat from the heater, "Mom, I'm home," she called out, taking off her winter coat and hanging it on the rack next to the door. She heard her mother's voice call out from down the hall as she was untying her scarf.

"I'm in my room,"

Lila already wasn't liking the sound of that; being both a combination of her mother not being in the kitchen or living room, and she knew that tone of voice. She took a deep breath before taking off her hat, hanging her scarf and hat next to her coat, and walking down the hall towards her mother's room.

When Lila reached the open door, she saw exactly what she both feared and expected, her mother was packing a suitcase.

"Mom?" Lila asked, desperately hoping that her mom was planning a surprise christmas vacation for both of them, "What's going on?"

She could feel her hopes being dropped when her mother gave her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry my angel, but it looks like I'm gonna have to work thru Christmas this year," she said, "Please don't be upset with me, I tried reasoning with the embassy, but I'm afraid there just wasn't getting out of it."

Of course, Lila would be lying if she said she was upset.

"Don't worry Mom, I'm not upset." Lila said, putting on one of her best smiles.

And that was exactly was she was doing.

"Are you sure?" Her mother asked, clearly concerned, "It kills me having to leave you here alone during the holiday season."

She waved it off, "I won't be alone though, I'll be too busy with Christmas shopping and I also have my Christmas party," Lila said, smiling to reassure her, "Plus I'll have my friends from school and my boyfriend Adrien to keep me company too."

Her mother smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, "That definitely takes a lot off my mind," she said.

"Here, let me help you finish packing," Lila said, even if she didn't like this, she didn't want it to be hard on her mother.

* * *

With Lila's help, they were able to finish packing very quickly, "Again, I'm very sorry that I have to leave," her mother said as she got ready to leave after putting on her coat.

"Mom, its fine," Lila said, it definitely wasn't, "You tried your best, and I'll be okay," Probably another lie, but she wouldn't be able to tell until after the holidays.

Her mother smiled, "I promise that I'll make things up to you after I get back," she said, wrapping her arms around Lila in a tight hug, "Merry Christmas, my angel" she said, kissing the top of her head.

Lila didn't say anything, but she returned the hug.

After breaking the hug, her mother grabbed her suitcase, "Money for food is on the counter, and your christmas present is under the tree," she said, "But no opening it until Christmas," she adding playfully, booping Lila on the nose.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Lila said with a giggle, her mother laughed before opening the door. After waving her daughter goodbye, the italian woman left, closing the door behind her. Leaving the teenaged girl alone.

Lila returned the wave, not that her mother could see it, then both her expression and her hands dropped to her sides before tightening into fists, her eyes clenched shut as they began to sting. After a moment, she relaxed herself with an exhale, "Another holiday alone," she muttered to herself, "What else is new?" Lila turned around and walked into the kitchen.

* * *

Like her mother said, there were some euros on the counter for her to buy food for herself, she picked them up, and after counting them out she folded the money and put it in the pocket of her jacket.

Next Lila turned to look towards the Christmas tree. Well, calling it a tree would be far too generous, you couldn't even call it bush. It was standing on the center of the table, made of plastic, and was only just over a foot tall. It didn't have any ornaments on it, the only decoration it had was a tiny plastic star on the top.

It was actually kind of sad and pathetic excuse of a Christmas decoration really, and sitting under it was a plain red envelope with her name on it.

Walking over to the table, she picked up the envelope and opened it using a knife she got from the kitchen to break the envelope's seal. Inside the envelope was a typical cheesy musical Christmas card you'd find at a mall or retail store. When Lila opened it, it started to play the tune of 'Jingle Bells'. There was no written message in the card, just the default message that was already printed on the card, as well as the real gift; more euros.

Lila counted the money out, the was significantly more money in the card than the money she was given for food, "Thanks, Mom," Lila said, folding the money and putting it in her pocket with the rest. Lila then closed the card and placed it on the table so it would stop playing.

Her eyes lingered on the design on the front of the card, it depicted a happy family. A mother, a father, and two kids. They were all gathered around a glowing fireplace and a beautifully lit and decorated Christmas tree with lots of colorful gifts underneath it.

Scoffing, she picked the card up and went over to the kitchen garbage can and threw it down inside it.

Next she went over to see what was available in the kitchen. She needed to see if she was able to whip herself up something for dinner. As she gathered some ingredients, she also pulled out her phone. She needed to make some calls to finalize a few things for her Christmas party.

* * *

Even after thinking about it the whole way home, Marinette still had no clue what Tikki could be planning. It had to be some kind of miraculous magic if they needed the spellbook. Was there some sort of Christmas Cheer potion recipe in there or something? Maybe there was some kind of kwami power up or special miraculous that could mind control Lila into changing the date of her party, or something similar.

When walking through the bakery she only gave her parents a brief greeting, they were completely absorbed in their work to acknowledge that they heard her, Marinette was willing to bet that they were working on Lila's order.

Marinette wanted to say something to her parents about what had happened with Lila and about the order, but she held her tongue. Even if Lila's reasons were evil, manipulative, selfish, and self-serving; she was still a paying customer. However, if Lila were to try scamming her parents and not paying them, that would be a different story.

* * *

Marinette went up the ladder that lead into her room, and once inside she closed the trapdoor made sure it was closed and locked. While she was sure that her parents would be hard at work for a while, she didn't want to run the risk of her parents barging in and interrupting whatever this was.

"You get the Miracle Box, we'll need that too," Tikki said as she flew to Marinette's desk, phasing through one of the drawyers and started rummaging around inside.

"...okay?" Marinette wondered if she was saying that too many times, but it was really all she could say. She went to her closet and pushed all of the outfits that were hanging on hangers to the side, revealing the gramophone Master Fu had left her.

She hadn't found a better hiding place for the Miracle Box and she didn't know how to alter the gramophone to something she could put in her room out in the open, so for now it was in the back of her closet.

Kneeling in front of the gramophone, she pressed the eyes of the two dragons engraved on the side. After the eyes glowed red a hatch opened up revealing ten buttons. Marinette pressed three of them, activating the mechanism to open the gramophone and allow the Miracle Box to rise out of it.

Picking up the rounded box, Marinette carried it back to her desk and placed it on her desk. Once she removed her hands the black spots soon began to light up with the symbols of the miraculous they contained and the red box began to glow with the golden lines that marked the compartments.

"Now what?" Marinette asked her Kwami, who was still rummaging in her desk.

Tikki fluttered out of the drawer, holding a red and black spotted flash drive, it was the flash drive that contained the miraculous was among the things Marinette had received from the locker that the gramophone was in, "Put on the Turtle Miraculous, we'll need to discuss this with Wayzz."

Marinette was starting to put a few of the pieces together, this must've been some kind of Guardian-level manner, and without Master Fu…

Marinette's thoughts trailed off. Master Fu, she missed him. Being Ladybug just wasn't quite the same without a master with his experience. Why did he have to name her the Guardian and lose all his memories?

She knew why, but there'd be time to dwell on that later.

She pressed on the black spot that had the symbol of the turtle on it. Once the compartment opened, she reached inside and pulled out the bracelet before slipping it onto her right wrist.

The turtle miraculous immediately went into its disguised form as a green light emerged out of it before fading away to reveal Wayzz.

The green colored creature looked around, somewhat confused. He must've assumed that he was activated to help with an Akuma attack, probably looking for Nino.

When the Kwami realized that he must've been activated for a different reason, "Hello Great Guardian," Wayzz said, bowing respectfully to Marinette, "How can I be of assistance?"

"Tikki needed to speak with you, I don't really know what's running through her mind," Marinette said, looking to her own Kwami, "I assume it's because she needs your input on something seeing as you the closest things we have to…" Marinette trailed off trying to find the right words, "An experienced Guardian?"

Tikki flew to Marinette, handing her the flash drive, "It's not about experience or guardianship, Marinette. It's about something you're about to learn about," she turned back to Wayzz, "You remember Lila Rossi, right?"

He had to think a moment before nodding, "You're referring to Volpina, correct?"

"Yes, that's her, and she's becoming a problem that we can no longer ignore," Tikki explained, "She's caused two mass akumatization events involving Scarlet Moth, one of which involving Marinette almost turning into an akuma. And that isn't the first time Lila has almost gotten Marinette akumatized and she's played a part in other powerful Akuma's as well," she said, "She has the potential to become a bigger villain than Hawkmoth, and she's done all this without a miraculous."

Marinette agreed, but she still wasn't sure where Tikki was going with this. Wayzz seemed to agree too.

"I can see why you are concerned," he said, "But why bring this up with me, what can we do about that?" Marinette looked back at Tikki, she had the same question.

Tikki's expression was more serious that Marinette had ever seen, "We can perform a miracle," she said, "And give Lila a chance to...renew herself."

The word 'renew' definitely captured Wayzz's attention, "Tikki, are you sure about this?" He asked, only furthering Marinette's confusion and also increasing her curiosity. Tikki nodded "Guardian, you might want to pull up the spellbook. There's much we must tell you,"

* * *

Marinette was now sitting at her desk, pulling up the file that contained the spellbook, "So, what is this about?" She asked, "Or, I guess, what am I looking for?"

"A miraculous," Wayzz said, floating over her shoulder, "A very special miraculous, the information should be located near the back of the book," he said.

The pigtailed girl nodded and began to scroll, the further back she went, the more the miraculous depicted seemed unfamiliar to her, there was a wolf, magpie, bear, snow leopard, spider, scorpion-

"There!" Wayzz said.

"A...penguin miraculous?" She asked, the image she was looking at depicted an Asian man wearing an evergreen and white outfit, but he didn't look like a warrior. The miraculous itself looked to be, a ribbon maybe?The weapon or tool of the miraculous looked to be...a hat?

Marinette concentrated on the words on the page, while in her eyes it still looked like ancient scribbles and gibberish, her mind was able to understand what it meant, "The penguin miraculous, the jewel of renewal. Grants the holder with the power of…kwami distortion for the purpose of renewal?" Marinette leaned back, raising an eyebrow, "I must be reading that wrong."

"No, you are reading that correctly," Wayzz said, "The penguin miraculous is special, because it is powerful and very dangerous, perhaps more so than any other miraculous in existence."

The teen had to blink, "I thought the Black Cat and Ladybug were the most powerful," she said.

"Together, they are, but when talking about an individual miraculous. None hold a candle to what the penguin miraculous is capable of." Wayzz explained.

Marinette looked back towards the page, "Kwami distortion...what does that mean? Do they control kwamis or something like that?"

Wayzz nodded, "And more," he said, "The penguin miraculous is not a combat based miraculous, but should they need to, they can perform magic spells. But its special and unique power is something else entirely. The holder of the penguin miraculous has the power to summon, control, and even temporarily alter the power of Kwami's for the holder's purposes."

Blink. "...Okay. Ummm...what does that have to do with renewal? And why would such a power exist, couldn't somehow easily take advantage of it?" Marinette asked.

"Yes, exactly, the penguin miraculous is only used rarely, once every couple hundred sometimes even thousand years, and usually only used by a guardian," Wayzz said, "But how it relates to renewal is what the power is meant to be used for. Like I said, its a miraculous not meant for combat. It meant for something...more personal. Though using the kwami's, the penguin can give someone," Wayzz paused, thinking for a moment before finding the words, "A reality check, then giving them the option or chance to change or improve an aspect about themselves for the better."

"Ohhh," Now Marinette got it, "A chance to renew themselves, so how do the kwamis come into play?"

This time it was Tikki that spoke up, "The kwamis give the intended person a truly life changing experience," she began to explain, "The person that the Kwamis are with will, Lila in this case, relieves the memories of the past to see what made them become the way they are. As well as how it's affected others in the past and in the present. And then it can give the victim a glimpse of the future of how their life will end up if they don't stop this and change for the better."

"Like 'A Christmas Carol'?" Marinette asked.

Tikki smiled, "Where do you think Charles Dickens got the idea in the first place?" She asked cheekily.

Well, classic literature just got a tad more interesting

"Wait wait hold on," Marinette asked, a thought entering her mind, "If we've had this miraculous all this time, why not use it on Hawkmoth or even Chloé?" She asked.

"It was something Master Fu considered, but there are some limitations or qualifications that the targeted individual needs to meet," Wayzz said, "You must personally know the person because the renewal magic must take place in their home, and since we don't know Hawkmoth's identity or where he lives, the Penguin miraculous wouldn't be able to be used on him."

"That makes sense, but what about Chloé?" Marionette asked.

Wayzz moves his arms in a way that could've been a shrug, "She certainly fits someone that you'd want to use the Penguin Miraculous on, however what disqualifies her is the fact that she's wielded a miraculous," he said, "Another reason why we couldn't use it on Hawkmoth is that when someone uses a miraculous, some of that miraculous' magic is imprinted on them and it messes with the experience. They become more aware of what's happening, sort of like a lucid dream, if that makes any sense."

Marinette nodded.

"Alright. Now, Marinette, if you're going to go through with this you will have to be careful," Wayzz said, "I said that the powers and responsibilities associated with the Penguin Miraculous are only handled by the Guardians. However, that doesn't mean that there still aren't risks. Like with the Rabbit's Burrow, the Snake's Second Chance, and the Black Cat's Cataclysm; the Penguin's Renewal is something that the holder can take advantage of and shouldn't be used selfishly."

"I understand," Marinette said.

Wayzz shook his head, "I am serious, with a power like this, you cannot let your motivations become corrupted when performing the spell. Also you have to firmly believe that Lila can change, if you don't, then the spell will fail. You will be tempted to have the Kwami's torment Lila, but you must firmly believe that you're helping Lila, and that she'll accept and want your help."

Wayzz flew closer to Marinette's face to look her more directly in the eye, "This is a power or belief, but also one of trust. Your role will only be to cast the spell. After that, you must leave it completely in the hands of the Kwamis you summon. And at the end of it all, you're not forcing Lila to do anything she doesn't want to do."

He flew even closer, "I will say that again, this is Lila's choice. She will go through the experience and at the end she will be given the opportunity and choice to either stay the same or renew herself. You can not and will not have any say or control over what that choice is. You can only hope that she will choose to renew." He was more serious than ever, "Can you do that?"

The young guardian began to think, she certainly didn't like the fact that she'd be tempted to make Lila suffer, and that she'd have the power to do so. Because she'd be lying if she said that she wouldn't want to make Lila suffer for everything she's done to her.

Marinette took a deep breath, "If Chloé can be be put on the road to improvement, then I'm sure there's hope for Lila too."

The green-colored kwami in front of her smiled, "Then I wish you good luck in your efforts, young guardian," he said, bowing respectfully, "You will find the Penguin Miraculous in a hidden compartment beneath the Ladybug and Black Cat yin yang."

"Thank you, Wayzz" Tikki said.

Marinette gave her thanks too before taking off the Turtle Bracelet, Wayzz going inside of it, before putting it back in its correct compartment in the Miracle Box. Next Marinette opened the compartment at the very top of the box, revealing the yin yang that was meant to hold the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous.

Marinette used two fingers to press the yin yang and with a click the two halves split and opened out and as pedestal rose up out of it with a wire bow tie with evergreen stripes resting on it.

"Oh so it's a bow tie and not a ribbon," Marinette thought out loud.

Tikki laughed, "You ready for this Marinette?" She asked.

Marinette picked the bow tie up, "Ready to get started," she said before putting the bow tie on.

An evergreen colored ball of light left the bow tie, turning it a plain solid black color, and circled around Marinette before settling in front of her. Then the light faded as a kwami materialized.

The Kwami was mostly an evergreen color with a white belly and face. In the center of the face was a small beak and above its eyes was a crest of silver feathers that reminded Marinette of a Rockefeller penguin. When the Kwami opened here eyes to reveal they were a rich an festive holly green.

The Kwami first turned towards Tikki, "It's wonderful to see you again, Tikki," Xīnng had a female voice, it was light, clear, and musical; like a bell.

"The pleasure is mine" Tikki said with a smile.

She then turned her attention to Marinette, "Greetings, Guardian, I am Xīnng, how may I assist you?" She asked with a bow.

Marinette smiled, "I'm hoping to give someone I know a Christmas Carol experience, and I'll need you help with that.

Xīnng returned the smile wholeheartedly, "I'd be honored," she said, "You need only say the magic words," the Kwami cleared her throat, "Xīnng, dash away!" She said, her voice eager with a spark of joy in her eyes.

Marinette's smile grew as she got up from her chair, "Xīngg, dash away!"

* * *

**-*X*x*X*-**

**Sorry to leave y'all on a cliffhanger like that, but I just couldn't resist. As an author it is a rule that I must be evil with my cliffhangers. So we've officially started the beginning of Lila's holiday journey.**

**Hopefully y'all enjoyed this chapter, I'm still doing my best to make sure that every character is written like they should. If I'm doing something wrong though please let me know, I'm always striving to do better with my writing.**

**Remember to leave a review, share your likes/dislikes, predictions, questions, anything like that. Now that you have a slight idea on how I'm pulling this off, you can now make your predictions on what Lila will be in for as the spell works its magic, no pun intended. Any and all reviews are appreciated!**

**QotC: What are your thoughts and opinions of the Penguin Miraculous and Xinng? Do you think its a great idea for a miraculous? What about the powers, is it too overpowered or does it have just the right amount? I like receiving feedback on my miraculous ideas so go crazy!**

**Hopefully I see you guys next week on Wednesday, have a happy Thanksgiving to all of you that celebrate the holiday! This is W.R. Winters signing off.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, and welcome back to _A Gift For Lila_.**

**Okay I know it isn't Wednesday, but my goal for this story was a chapter every week and that i would just do my best to have the chapter ready by Wednesday. So I'm technically still achieving my goal, plus its a Thursday so its only one day later than y'all were expecting.**

**Hopefully all my American readers enjoyed the holiday weekend, and for my non-American readers...hopefully you just had a good weekend in general.**

**Anyway, on with what you're here for. I hope the chapter is enjoyable to the point that the extra day of waiting is worth it!**

**-*X*x*X*- **

* * *

Chapter 3: A Christmas Messenger

* * *

It was getting late, and it was time for bed.

Lila was definitely feeling a bit drained from all the calls she had to make for her party, plus there was the whole thing with her mother once again needing to work at the embassy over the holidays. So she decided that it would be best to try and get a good night's sleep.

She went about her usual bedtime routine, which started with a hot shower.

Lila made her way to the bathroom door, and reached for the doorknob, but then it began to change. Lila pulled her hand back as the mental formed a different shape.

"Is...that a penguin?" She asked out loud, then she closed her eyes tightly, rubbing them a bit before opening them again. The penguin was gone and the doorknob was back to normal, "Weird," she opened the door and went inside.

Lila left the shower in a bathrobe and towel drying her hair, steam leaving the shower into an already steamed up bathroom. Then walked over to the mirror so she could brush and properly floss.

"Lila,"

Lila froze, "...Mom?" She asked, but that couldn't be right. It didn't sound like her mother, but there was no one else that could've gotten into her house as far as she knew, "Probably just hearing things," Lila thought out loud, using the towel to wipe away the condensation, revealing a face that wasn't hers.

"Lila!"

Letting out a small scream, Lila half jumped and half stumbled back and fell back onto the floor. Ignoring the pain she got up to look in the mirror again.

Her reflection was normal.

"What was that?" Was all Lila could ask, she knew she had seen a different face, it all happened too face for her to make it out, but it was definitely not her own! She sighed and used both hands to massage her temples, "I must be more tired than I thought," she figured, all the more reason to get on with her nightly routine.

* * *

Lila brushed her teeth, making sure to floss, then went to her room to change into her pajamas. Once dressed, the only thing left would be to make sure all the lights were turned off. So first Lila entered the kitchen and went to the light switch.

"I heard you hated Christmas, but this is just depressing,"

For the second time in the past hour, Lila almost had a heart attack, she whirled towards the voice to see someone sitting at the table, "I mean, you call this a tree? And would it kill you to put up a wreath or something?" She asked getting up to her feet, her bright festive evergreen eyes now fixed on Lila.

At first they looked to be a girl around Lila's age, but she could've been any age above that. She looked young, but she had hair white as snow that fell down past her shoulders. She had skin that was too pale to be human, she almost looked like she was made of porcelain, with the only color being in her rosy cheeks and her lips being a bright holly berry red. She was dressed like a performer in a Christmas show.

She was wearing an evergreen tux jacket with white fur cuffs on the sleeves, under the jacket was a waistcoat of the same color and a perfectly white dress shirt. Around the neck of the dress shirt was a white and evergreen striped bow tie. She was also wearing peacock blue dress pants that were tucked into evergreen thigh boots with the toes coming up to a curved point with a tiny silver bell on the tips of the curls. Covering the upper half her face was a white masquerade style mask with silver designs and evergreen trim around her eyes. And on top of her head was a white top hat with an evergreen band that had some holly leaves and berries on it too.

"Who are you?" Lila asked, still recovering from shock, "What are you? Are you an Akuma?"

She only giggled, "Nope, not an Akuma, but allow me to introduce myself," she took off her top hat and bowed, "You may call me Noelle Belle," Noelle Belle straightened herself up and put her hat back on her head, "As for what I am...just a simple Christmas messenger really,"

Lila gave her a suspicious look, "Christmas messenger?" She asked, "Yeah, right."

Noelle Belle shrugged, "Hey whether or not you believe me is up to you, but my message is about your lying."

Now completely over her shock and fear, Lila could only scoff, "You sound like Ladybug, or Marinette," Lila saidwith an eyeroll, "Let me guess, you're here to lecture me and convince me that I shouldn't hate Christmas?" She asked sarcastically, but to her surprise Noelle Belle shook her head.

"Lecturing you isn't my job. Though while I do personally believe that lying is wrong and good can rarely come from it; I'm just here to give you a message," she said, "However, I'd be lying if I said you wouldn't be getting lectured tonight, just not by me."

"Who then?" Lila asked.

"That brings me to my message," Noelle Belle took off her hat and placed it upside down on the ground in front of her, then the inside of the hat began to swirl with evergreen magic, "Tonight, you will be visited by three beings, you could even call them spirits. They will have much to show you and much to tell you, and I suggest you listen to them."

Noelle Belle smiled, "And, one more thing. Merry Christmas!" With a wink, she jumped and her body bursted into white, silver and evergreen fireworks that formed into a comet that flew inside the top hat, mixing in with the magic that was already inside. The hat then rose from the ground before it dissolved into evergreen sparkles that quickly disappeared before they could hit the ground.

The Italian girl could only blink as she stared at the spot where the clearly magical being had just been standing, "...Paris has way too many costumed freaks running around," she said before turning off the lights and going towards her room. Not really paying any mind towards Noelle Belle's warning.

* * *

Up on the roof of Lila's home, Noelle Belle stood with Tikki floating next to her, "Alright, time to perform the spell," she said, taking off her top hat, holding it in front of her like a magician about to pull a rabbit out of it. She turned to Tikki, "Wish me luck."

"You got this Marinette, or I guess Noelle Belle," Tikki said with a giggle.

Noelle Belle smiled, then closed her eyes and began to focus.

Her hand began to move in circles around the top hat, "Help Lila with her lies," she said softly, a magic beginning to flow from her fingers into the hat, "Help her see the benefits a fresh honest start, and give her the choice to make that change." her expression tightened as the urge to darken the spell formed in the back of her mind.

"Show her the lies of the past, their effects on the present, and the consequences in the future," And punish her for them- No! "But not to punish her, but to show her a different perspective. The kwamis I call with be…" tormenters and punishers- NO! "Guides and listeners. There will be no force, no manipulation, and no warping of the memories. Show things as they were and as they are," the magic began to glow brighter as it filled the hat almost to the brim, "I leave the choice to renew yourself to you, Lila Rossi," the magic stopped flowing and Noelle Belle opened her eyes.

She looked down into the hat, it certainly looked like the spell worked...there really wasn't any way of telling, "On to the next step, I guess," she said, a hand going to the bowtie around her neck and pressing her fingers against it.

"Call to Renew," she said, her voice having a slight echo to it, in response to her words the bow tie began to glow.

Soon Noelle Belle began to feel it, she could feel the energy, essence, and power of the kwamis, though shockingly she couldn't sense the presence of the kwamis in the Miracle Box. I guess she could only work with the kwamis that were active and outside the box. Also while she could sense the kwamis, she wasn't able to tell what their location was. Probably to preserve the identity of their holders.

Noelle Belle already had one of the kwamis she needed, she just needed two more. So chose the next kwami she needed to assist her and began to reach out to them.

* * *

Nooroo perked up as he felt a vibration and a tingle in his wings, it was a feeling that he immediately recognized. It was the magic of the penguin miraculous summoning him, after after what happened the day on his 3500th cycle. He definitely wasn't going to refuse this.

Nooroo looked towards his master, who was designing some sort of winter coat on his monitor, maybe he would be able to sneak away...

"Nooroo, just where do you think you're going?" Gabriel asked, not looking up from the monitor.

Nooroo hated the fact that he couldn't lie to his master, "I've been summoned, so I'm leaving. I'll be back before the night is over," he said, trying to be as vague as possible.

The fashion designer looked at him, "I may need you in case I need to create an akuma, so you will do no such thing," Gabriel said in a more stern tone, then he returned back to his work.

"No,"

Gabriel stopped, "I beg your pardon?" he asked, looking back at the kwami.

"I said, no," Nooroo said firmly, "I've been summoned so I'm going, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

His master frowned, "As your holder, Nooroo I command that you are forbidden from going!" he commanded with a snap of his fingers.

Nooroo enjoyed seeing the look on Gabriel's face when he only smirked at his command, "Sorry Master, but the one that is summoning me has more power over me than you do, so your commands won't stop me this time!" he said, then wasted no time in flying through the window and into the night.

* * *

Noelle Belle was beginning to wonder if she had summoned the kwami successfully, just as she was about to turn to Tikki, she spotted a dot of light purple that stood out against the night sky.

As the kwami approached, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Tikki looked like she was shaking, and it didn't look like it was from the cold.

Noelle Belle spoke once the kwami was close enough, "Nooroo, thank you for accepting my summons," she said.

"No Guardian, thank you," Nooroo said with a shake of his head, "It is a great honor to be chosen for one of your renewels," he said respectfully, then he turned to look at Tikki and instantly he seemed to turn into a child on Christmas morning, "Tikki!"

Tikki quickly floated over to Nooroo and affectionately nuzzled his head with her own, "Its great to see you again after all this time, Nooroo," she asid, tears welling up in her eyes, "Happy late birthday, by the way," Nooroo smiled, his eyes closing as he nuzzled her back.

Noelle Belle smiled, she let the two kwamis have their moment, it has been over a century since they last saw each other, so she figured that she might as well summon the third and final kwami she would need.

* * *

When Plag felt the tingling in his ears and whiskers, he let out a groan, "Uggghhh, seriously?" He was just about to enjoy the first piece of a big stinky wheel of camembert.

Adrien, who decided to stay up in the hopes of catching his father after he finished working to ask him if he could go to Marinette's Christmas party, looked over at Plagg, "Plagg, what is it?"

Plagg released a deep exhausted sigh before tossing the piece of cheese into his mouth, "I'm being summoned, at the worst of all times!"

Adrien adjusted his position so that he was facing Plagg, "Is it an akuma?" He asked. Part of him hoped so, he'd take any reason to see Ladybug, though he'd also prefer if there weren't any akumas this holiday season.

"No, no, it's got nothing to do with anything that requires Chat Noir," It seemed pretty clear that what Plagg was being summoned for was something he really didn't want to do.

"Ummm, if you don't want to go, can't you just...ignore the summons?" Adrien asked.

"Anything that interrupts my cheese eating time is something I don't want to do, which includes a lot of the times you wanted to transform into Chat Noir," Plagg said, "Even if I tried to ignore them they could just yank me over there. I'll be back before morning, but don't expect to see me return before you go to sleep."

Adrien's expression became more worried, "What if Hawkmoth creates an akuma and I don't have you around to transform me?" He asked.

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it," Plagg said, then without saying anything more he flew out the window into the night. Leaving Adrien both curious and concerned about what was happening.

* * *

Tikki and Nooroo's minature reunion moment ended just as Plagg arrived, who instantly spotted Nooroo, "I knew Chat Noir had nothing to worry about with me leaving, hey Nooroo. Good to see you, Nooroo," he said.

Nooroo's smile grew, "Hey, Plagg!"

"None of that sappy hug stuff, where he to help out Penguin Girl here," Plagg said, then he turned towards Noelle Belle, "Hey, can we hurry this up? I have cheese to eat."

The holder giggled, "Alright, first we have Nooroo," the lavender kwami eagerly floated forward, "I'm sorry about your miraculous being used for evil," she said.

Nooroo shrugged, "After being used for so much evil, it's nice to help in doing some good,"

She nodded, "We're doing all we can to free you from Hawkmoth, but for tonight, you won't be Hawkmoth's tool for evil, you will be my Ghost of Christmas Past," the butterfly kwami nodded before flying into the hat, making the magic inside flash a bright lavender before going back to normal, "Tikki," She floated forward, "You are my Ghost of Christmas Present," Tikki flew into the hat, turning the magic red temporarily, "And Plagg-"

"Yeah yeah, I can figure it out. Ghost of Christmas Future or whatever, figures that I'm going last," Plagg said, going into the hat, the magic flashed neon green for a second.

Noelle Bell looked down at the hat, "Here we go," she said to herself, "Good luck guys," she turned the hat upside down and the magic fell out of the hat and started to seep into the building, "Lila Rossi, its time for a renewal," she said, then she put the hat back on and then began to make her way home.

**-*X*x*X*-**

**And that's a wrap for chapter 3, what'd you guys think?**

**So originally this chapter was going to feature Noelle Belle visiting Lila AND Lila's past, but the visit and casting the spell ended up being a lot longer than expected so i just decided to split it into two chapters rather than torture myself into writing one monster of a chapter before the end of this week.**

**So we've now seen Marinette's Penquin Persona; Noelle Belle. What do you guys think of her design? If you had trouble picturing it then look no further than the cover art of this story! (Art credit goes to the fantastic Starskulls check her out she writes some great stuff).**

Remember to leave a review, share with me your likes/dislikes, predictions, questions, anything like that in regards to this chapter. Now you can start guessing what Lila will see in her Past, Present, and Future. Any and all reviews are appreciated!

**QotC: So next chapter is going to show us Lila's past and why she became such a liar. What are your theories as to what made her this way? Even if you have no idea put a guess in your review anyway. It can be as outlandish as 'Lila is an alien and will die if she tells the truth' (Spoiler alert, that's not it). If any of you actually guess it correctly there will be a special prize!**

**Well, that will wrap things up for this week, see y'all next week (hopefully on a Wednesday this time). This is W.R. Winters signing off.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys...I'm really not good at posting on Wednesday, but hey gotta look on the bright side of things! At least i still got this chapter to you guys before the week was over.**

**So after last chapter, it certainly seems like you guys really weren't satisfied with it. So I just wanna say sorry for not delivering on the level of quality you were expecting. Hopefully this next chapter will make up for it.**

**This was definitely an experience to write, there were points in this chapter where I got a little emotional writing them. I also did a bit of rewriting in some areas so hopefully i did a good job.**

**But enough of my stalling, on with _A Gift For Lila_.**

**Let us see what Lila's past has to offer.**

**-*X*x*X*-**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Lies You've Told

* * *

Lila was sleeping peacefully in her bed, dreaming about whatever it is liars that hate Christmas dream about. Or at least she was until a butterfly landed on her nose.

Stirring a bit, Lila rubbed her nose to get the butterfly off before trying to go back to sleep, but it only continued to keep landing on her before she groaned and sat up, "Ugh, what time is it?" She asked, rubbing one of her eyes and looking at the clock, "1 AM? Stupid butterflies," she grumbled before perking up, now much more awake, "Butterflies?"

The teen sat up and looked around, sure enough, her room was filled with butterflies. Most were fluttering around, but some were perched on shelves and other furniture in her room. Almost all of them were colored white, somewhere purple and black like an Akuma, but the one that caught Lila's attention was a glowing lavender butterfly with a wingspan as wide as a dartboard.

It didn't fly like the others did, the other butterflies fluttering while this one seemed to glide through the air like it was underwater, wings moving in that seemed like slow motion compared to the others.

When the lavender butterfly flew across her bed, Lila hesitantly reaches out a hand, the tips of her fingers brushing against the silky soft wings.

Almost immediately after Lila made contact the butterfly began to glow brighter and flew to the center of Lila's room before it became completely enveloped in a ball of lavender light that expanded to a large size. When the light faded, the butterfly was gone, but an entirely new being was in its place.

He looked like a young child, around the same age as Chris, he had medium length dark purple hair styled in a boyish style that reminded Lila of Chris too. He was wearing plain lavender pajamas, with his pants being a slightly darker shade of lavender than his top and were also covered with white butterfly wings. And extending from his back were a pair of large lavender butterfly wings.

The boy looked at Lila with round innocent lavender eyes, "Hello Lila," his voice was the voice of a child. It was kind, curious, and innocent. But it also seemed wise at the same time.

Lila almost wanted to hide or shield herself using her blanket, "You know who I am?" She asked.

"I know a lot of things about you, for I am the Ghost of Christmas Past," he said, straightening his posture and extending his wings out further to make himself bigger, "But you can call me Nooroo," he added, relaxing a bit.

A light went on in the teen's head, "You're one of the spirits Noelle Belle told me was coming, aren't you?"

He nodded, "You got it, and if you knew I was coming, you must also know why I'm here. Yes?"

"Yeah, you're here to lecture me about my lies," Lila said, crossing her arms, "Well? You might as well get it over with so you can be on your way," Lila waiting for the lecture, but no such lecture came.

Instead, the spirit began to look around the room, "Do you know what these are?" He asked, gesturing to the creatures flying around the room.

"They're butterflies." She answered simply

Nooroo nodded, "Well, yes you are technically correct, but do you know what they represent?" He asked. When Lila shook her head he continued, "These butterflies are memories of the past, your past."

"My past?"

Another nod, "So yes, I am here to talk to you about your lies, but not about how you should stop, but rather how you started on the path of a liar. And rather than telling you, I thought it'd be better to show you." Nooroo then raised a hand and snapped his fingers, then a clear crystal ball the size of an apple appeared in his hand that he raised up.

All around Lila the butterflies were turned into glowing orbs of magic that were then absorbed into the ball, turning the clear crystal into a rich amethyst that gave off a soft glow. "We're going to visit your past," he said, tossing the ball to her.

Lila caught it out of instinct, and her surroundings instantly changed from her bedroom, to a completely different, but still familiar room.

* * *

She looked around shocked, "This...I recognize this place," she said, looking around, it was a crafts room. Hanging from the walls were several pieces of paper art, there were also lots of awards and trophies in a few display cases won from multiple paper cutting competitions, some pretty old and others were very new.

"Alright girls, let's see what you've come up with!"

Lila jumped and turned around to see a man walk into the room, he was tall and stood very proudly, his hands clasped behind his back. Dark hair that was combed/slicked back with a dark goatee on his chin, and behind rectangular rimless glasses were olive green eyes that held great expectations.

Lila instantly recognized him, his name was Matteo Rossi, and he was her father.

"Daddy!"

Lila turned to see a large work table, covered with tools for paper cutting as well as stacks upon stacks of multiple types of paper, all different colors of the rainbow.

Sitting at the table were two young girls, two girls that looked exactly the same, the twin girls had brown hair, olive green eyes and wore their hair and dressed the same way. The only noticeable difference between them being that one of the twins wore glasses while the other didn't. Another noticeable difference was that the twin without glasses looked overjoyed at seeing her father, which the twin only had a small smile on her face.

"Alright, Lila, Angela, who wants to show me their work first?" Matteo asked.

"Me! I do," the twin without glasses raised her hand up and Matteo walked over to the desk to see her work, Lila walked over to join him as well, looking over the young girl's shoulder at the art.

The piece of art on the table was truly incredible to say the least, it was a beautiful picture of a woman looking into a mirror, reflection included. The cuts were beautifully precise and the detail was extraordinary given the age of the girl who made it.

Matteo smiled proudly, "Extraordinary, that's my girl!" he said, "Is that your mother?"

The twin nodded, "Mhm, do you like it?" she asked.

"Not surprising, you're always been Mommy's little angel," Matteo said with a laugh, "I love it! You captured her perfectly, bellissima!" he placed a kiss on the top of her head, "I'm sure you'll win first prize at the competition tomorrow. How about you go show your mother?"

The little girl nodded and carefully picked up the paper art carefully and got up from her seat, but when she ran to leave the room, the memory didn't follow her, revealing that the twin wearing glasses was Lila's younger self.

Lila didn't have time to move out of the girl's way, but she found that it didn't matter because she passed right through her as if she wasn't there. She took a few steps back, her hands going to her chest out of reflex, to her she felt solid.

"They can't see, here, or feel you," the teen turned to see Nooroo sitting on top of one of the trophy cases, "You're only here to observe, so observe."

Lila looked back at her father, who was looking at the door, smiling after his daughter that had run through it. Though his expression turned more neutral when he turned to his other daughter, "And what do you have for me?" Matteo asked, sounding more like a judge than a father.

The glasses wearing girl pushed her piece towards Matteo, sliding it across the table, it was a paper art of a fox. While still very well done, it wasn't as good as her twin sister's.

Matteo looked the piece over, "You're improving, perhaps worthy of an honorable mention," he said, causing the girl to smile, "But I expect better," he added, causing the smile to fall.

The girl bowed her head a bit, but straightened herself up when her father turned his gaze towards her, "Yes, sir," she said, nodding in understanding. He returned the nod, giving her a soft pat on the head before leaving the room.

Once he was out of the room, the young girl's posture dropped as she looked towards her art, then she grabbed her tool and tried to see if she could add more detail.

Lila soon heard footsteps and turned to look back at the door to the crafts room, her twin sister had returned, and this time she wasn't alone.

Next to her was a very short and petite girl with light brown hair, a pale peach complexion, and dark green eyes. Lila recognized her almost immediately, she was her old best friend Timothea Cratcher, but due to her petite size and frame she and her sister had affectionately named her Tiny Thea, or just Tiny for short.

"Hey Sis!"

Lila watched her younger self jump, the art knife moving abruptly, causing it to nick her finger, "Ouch," she yelped, dropped the knife and grabbing her hand and looking at her finger, the cut was small, but still bleeding.

"Oh no, Sis, I'm so sorry," her twin sister rushed to her side and looked at her finger, she then didn't hesitate to rush to look in the cabinet where they kept their paper cutting tools and fished out a first aid fit they kept in there for situations just like this one.

Thea went to the young Lila's side, who was now kissing/sucking on her finger, her eyes clenched shut as tears of pain welled up, "Hey it's okay, you're gonna be okay," Thea said, doing her best to comfort her friend, hugging her for good measure, "Hugs remove the hurt!"

Lila watched her old friend with a smile, "Tiny Thea, always was too pure for this world," she said to herself, but then her smile fell as something occurred to her, past lies... she didn't say anything and hoped Nooroo didn't notice.

Her twin returned to Lila's side with a bandaid and a cotton ball, "Okay, I've seen Mom do this a bunch of times," she said, "Give me your finger." she did so and the cotton ball was used to wipe away the blood and then used the bandage to wrap up her finger, "Okay, you can open your eyes now Sis."

The young Lila did and looked at her finger before using her other hand to reach under her glasses and wipe away her tears, "Thanks, Sis," she said, smiling.

Her twin returned her smile, "No…" she trailed off when something caught her eye, she looked down at the table, "Oh no, your art!"

Both Lila's redirected their attention to the table, the paper art of the fox had been ripped almost in half. The art knife must have ripped it when she jumped, "No," she said softly.

Lila frowned, looking at the ruined piece of art, "She tried so hard...I tried so hard," she said, "My sister was the talented one, and me...not so much. She didn't need to try to make something great, I need to cut like my life depended on it to get something decent at best."

"Wasn't that your entry for the contest?" Thea asked.

Young Lila sighed, "It was, not like I was gonna win anyway,"

"No," Her twin sister said, shaking her head, "If you're not entering, then I'm not either," she said.

Now it was young Lila's turn to shake her head, "No way, you love papercutting, you're not quitting the contest just because of me."

Nooroo jumped down from his perch and walked over so that he was standing beside Lila, "A twin in the spotlight, with her other half in her shadow. Yet still as close as sisters can be," he said, watching the two twins argue.

"My sister hated leaving me out of things," Lila said, "There were even times where if I didn't complete my art entry in time she'd beg me to use one of her old works," she laughed to herself, "Of course I never did because that-" She cut herself off.

Nooroo looked up at her, "Because that wouldn't be honest?" He asked, a cheeky smile on his face, "What changed then, I wonder?"

The orb in Lila's hands glowed and the scenery changed once again.

* * *

"Alright class, before we begin today's lessons, does everyone have something unique and exciting that happened recently that they would like to share with the class?" They were in a classroom

In the back of the class a hand shot up, "I do, I do!"

"Ah, yes, Angela...or are you Lila? Ummm...Miss Rossi, what do you have for us this time?" The teacher asked

Lila felt a deep bitterness inside her, "Miss Fezziwig's class," she muttered.

Nooroo stifled a laugh, "Not many fond memories of this place," he said.

Lila shook her head, "I hated her class, she's have this personal story sharing time, and my sister would always have something to share," she said as she watched her twin sister tell a story about how they saw a squirrel in a tree, "We spent so much time inside working on crafts that we didn't get out much, so she thought everything new was unique and exciting." She said, "I did too, but I didn't feel the need to share things like my sister did."

* * *

It showed almost a montage of memories, all of Lila's sister telling the class about so many things, most of which were simple normal everyday things.

* * *

The montage ended came to an end when it came to a memory where once again Lila's sister had her hand raised, however this time, Miss Fezziwig didn't call on her, but she kept raising her hand higher and higher until the teacher sighed, "Miss Rossi, please, unless you have something actually new and exciting, let's let someone else share." She said.

The class laughed and the hand slowly and the young girl's face went red from shame and embarrassment, next to her young Lila looked at her sister and her eyes narrowed from anger, "Actually, Miss Fezziwig, this time we do have something new and exciting!" Young Lila said standing up.

Miss Fezziwig looked at her in confusion, 'Which one are you again...nevermind." She muttered but shook her head, "Well, I'm sure the class is very interested to know this 'new and exciting' thing you two have to share," she said.

Young Lila then began to tell a story, and Lila watched and listened, it was true for the most part, though there were some parts of it that had been changed. Whether they were exaggerated parts that were true or events that had never happened at all.

"And this," Nooroo said, watching the young girl, "This is where it began, didn't it."

Lila's expression remained unchanged, "They wanted something new and unique, and I was going to give that to them," she said quietly, she looked around the classroom and saw the expressions of the other classmates, they were completely entranced in Lila's story.

"It was the first of many story shares," Lila said as another montage began, this time of Lila telling the stories instead of her sister, "I found something I was talented at, something I didn't need to try hard to pull off," Lila said, looking at her twin sister, who looked at the young Lila, taking in her every word, but not for the same reasons as the others were, "All because I didn't want people to laugh at my sister for being happy and excited about something they didn't think was interesting,"

Nooroo looked up at Lila, "So you were lying for your sister's benefit?" He asked, to which Lila didn't respond, "Or were you just happy to have the eyes on you for a change?"

"I want to see something else," Lila said looking away from Nooroo and down at the purple ball in her hand, the ball glowed and the classroom melted away.

* * *

She was now standing next to a large tree overlooking a tall cliff, snow covered the ground and when she looked around she could see that there was a slight slope leading up to the tree and at the bottom of the slope were some houses that looked to be within shouting distance.

"Alright, you wanted to see something else, how about a Christmas memory?" Nooroo asked, "I am a spirit of Christmas after all," he said.

"C'mon slowpokes, hurry up!"

Lila looked down as saw Thea with the two twins chasing after her, and her eyes widened in horror as she recognized this memory, "Show me something else," she said, "Show me a different memory, any memory. Anything but this!" her voice becoming more desperate, "Nooroo, please!" She asked looking at the spirit, who only shook his head.

Lila tried running in front of the girls, seeing if she could stop them, but they only ran right through her. Lila looked back to watch the young girls run up the slope and towards the tree, Thea beginning to climb the tree, her twin sister telling Thea to be careful, and Lila and Angela staying on the ground.

Lila tried to walk back up the hill, but she only fell to her knees. Bowing her head a bit, her eyes beginning to sting as all she could do was stare at the ground.

The spirit walked to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry," Nooroo said, sympathetically, "But I'm afraid you need to see this," he said, helping her to her feet and supported her as they both walked up the hill so that she could see and hear what was happening.

"Sis, I just don't know why you tell those stories," her sister was looking at the younger Lila with worry and concern, "They aren't true." she said.

The younger Lila shrugged, "They wanted to here something exciting, so that's what I told them. I was telling them what they wanted to hear," she said, "We tried the truth and people laughed at us for it,"

"Just the one time. Who cares what they think anyway?" she asked.

The glasses wearing twin scoffed, "Easy for you to say," she said, "Everyone likes you, you don't need to try hard."

"What are you talking about?" her twin sister looked genuinely confused, "Of course people like you,"

"No, they like you, I'm just there and look like you. People like me because they think I'm you."

Lila winced at that last line in particular as she watched the two twins start to bicker, the stinging only got worse and she wanted to just close her eyes, but she couldn't force herself to.

"Lila, Angela, help!"

The two twins stopped and looked up, Thea was high in the tree clinging to a branch for dear life, "Tiny what's wrong?"

"I climbed to high, I can't get down!" Thea had her eyes clenched shut, "And I forgot about my fear of heights! Why did I do this?"

"Just hold on tight, Tiny, we're coming!" The two twins began to climb the tree quickly to get up to their friend.

Lila shook her head, "Pleas, don't. Call Mom, call the emergency people, something other than climbing." she softly pleaded, desperately hoping that they could hear her.

Nooroo remained silent, used both hands to grip Lila, then his wings began to move as they floated up after the twins until they were level with the branch Thea was on. The Rossi twins reaching the branch soon after.

"After determining that the branch looked strong enough, the twins carefully made it onto the branch and slowly getting closer to her.

"Okay Thea, we're here," the twin without glasses spoke, being in front of her sister and the closest to Thea, "Look at us, don't look down, look at us,"

The petite girl, shaking like a leaf, looked towards the voice and opened her eyes.

"Okay that's good, now come to us, and we'll come to you, we'll help you get to the trunk, and then we'll climb down, okay?" Thea nodded again and started to slowly inch their way towards her best friends.

Lila watched in silence as, through some very careful maneuvering, the twins were able to help Thea get over them and be the one closest to the tree branch. The three girls were excited and happy, ready to get down from the tree and probably head back home.

_Crack_

Lila was finally able to force herself to shut her eyes,

_SNAP!_

Lila heard the screams of three little girls and the sound of something falling through the tree branches, and the impacts of something landing on the ground below. Lila didn't want to open her eyes, but they were opening anyway. Nooroo was taking them down to below the tree, and on the ground was Thea, unconscious but still breathing, but one of her legs was bending the wrong way, clearly broken.

Now Lila's eyes stopped stinging as the tears finally began to flow, "Thea was close to the trunk, so when she fell she fell to the ground below the tree, but my sister and me…" Lila walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

Below her were the two twins, who were on a part of the branch that was hanging over the cliff, so when they fell, they fell off the side of the cliff.

At first the twins were completely still, but then one of them began to move. Their body hurting all over, but due to landing on a pile of snow the twin had received no broken bones, but they had a large cut on their forehead, that had a slow flow of blood coming from it and down the side of her face. The injury was probably from a tree branch scratching her on the way down.

"Sis..Tiny?" she asked, a hand going to their head, which heart the most. The twin readjusted the glasses that were on her face, the glass in one of the lenses was cracked, but she was still able to see as she looked around, and her eyes fell on her sister, who was on top of a small group of rocks that were hidden under the snow.

Her body was broken, and her eyes were open, devoid of light and life.

"Sis?" she asked, her eyes widening in horror, tears welling up and flowing down her cheeks, "LILA!"

Above them the teen closed her eyes tightly again and looking away, her body began to tremble, one hand tightening her grip on the ball and the other clenched into a tight fist, and her cheeks soaked with tears.

"And there it is, the real truth," Nooroo said, bowing his head mournfully, "Isn't that right, Angela?" he asked, looking at the teen next to him.

She broke down, dropping the ball and once again falling to her knees, burying her face in her hands, now sobbing uncontrollably.

Without hesitating, Nooroo got on his knees too and wrapped his arms around the brunette and hugged her close, letting her sob into his chest.

The spirit quietly comforted her until her sobbing died down into silence, her tears running until she had run out. Nooroo pulled away from the embrace and picked up the ball from the ground and held it out to Lila.

Sniffing, not bothering to wipe the tears from her cheeks, she took the crystal ball.

* * *

The memory around them altering so that they were now at the bottom of the cliff, but now there were now medical professionals there. There were some at the top of the cliff carefully placing Thea on a gurney and wheeling her to an ambulance.

Meanwhile there were some medical professionals at the bottom of the cliff, the little girl now revealed to be Angela was cradling the dead broken body of Lila in her arms, one of them kneeled next to Angela, "I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to take your sister away," he said. Though she didn't even seem to be aware that he was even talking to her.

"You must've had a million thoughts and feelings running through your head," Nooroo said, "You had just lost your twin sister and your best friend, on Christmas Day of all days, and it felt like an eternity before someone found you three and called for help." he said

"During that time you did a lot of thinking, Lila was the pride and joy of your parents, you believed that they would be devastated to learn about the death of their favorite daughter, especially your father." he said, "So when the EMT's came for you, you told a lie that would change your life forever."

The man placed a had on Angela's shoulder, jolting her out of her daze, "What's your name, little one?"

The little girl looked down at the face of her dead twin, then back up at the man, "This is...was my twin sister Angela, my name is Lila Rossi."

"Angela Rossi was the one that died that day," Lila said, her voice and expression sad, "And 'Lila Rossi' would live on." she said.

* * *

The scene faded and was replaced by the image of a grave, "The real Lila was gone and buried, but her grave said Angela," she said.

* * *

Then the memory changed to being in the hospital where 'Lila' was resting in a hospital bed, a bandage on her forehead. Her mom and dad were in the room with her, talking to her, her mother trying to help her feel better, and her dad had brought her some paper cutting supplies so she could continue to practice while she healed.

"We were twins, so our DNA matched. We both wore glasses, my sister just prefered contacts so I started wearing them. And my natural talent for selling a lie really paid off. Mom was never able to tell us apart, so it wasn't difficult to convince her. And Dad...part of me always suspected he knew, but if he did, he never said anything. I think he wanted to believe I was the real Lila and that his little protege wasn't gone. As for Thea, I learned that she had slipped into a coma, with no sure idea of when she would wake up, so there was no need to convince her."

* * *

The memories showed a montage of her younger self working tirelessly to improve her paper cutting, the nurses constantly needing to take away her supplies in order to stop her from working all night rather than resting. This continued even after she was released from the hospital.

"When I got out of the hospital, my dad didn't hesitate to get me paper cutting again, and I worked both day and night to recreate my sister's skill. And I did improve, greatly, but there was something that the real Lila had that no amount of practice could get me; her natural talent."

* * *

The memory changed once again, this time to a paper cutting competition, "And our 2nd and 3rd place winners are...Vivienne Grande and Lila Rossi!"

"I was winning awards that Angela never won, but still never doing as well as the real Lila," She said, looking at how her younger self was putting on a fake smile at her winning, but she knew that she was dissatisfied, "I wasn't paper cutting because I liked it anymore, I was doing it because it's what Dad expected from Lila, and it was what she loved." Just another lie that had become a part of her life.

* * *

Things changed once again and they were back at school, and young 'Lila' was being the center of attention, with her classmates all around her.

"At school, people told me they were sorry about how I lost Angela," Lila said, "I hated it, it was just a reminder of what I lost, so I distracted them the same way Angela did...with more stories full of lies." She frowned, "Soon Lila was back to being one of the most popular girls in school, only this time the eyes were on me...and I loved it."

Nooroo nodded, "Out of the shadow, and in the spotlight, after being practically glossed over your whole life, you were finally getting the attention you were envious of," he said, "Yet the biggest irony of it all was you were in the spotlight all because you were lying saying you're the person that used to be in the spotlight."

"People told me that they were sorry to hear about Angela's passing and that she would be missed," Lila said hugging herself, looking down at the floor, "But nobody ever told me what they would miss about her."

She sniffed, the stinging feeling coming back, "The real me was gone...and nobody seemed to care," Lila took in a shuddering breath, "I never once heard my parents mention Angela or give any indication that they mourned or missed her. When Angela was gone my parents just seemed to forget all about her, forget all about me. Their only other daughter."

Lila closed her eyes, "I never realized how much it hurt to have Mom's nickname for Lila be 'Angel' until she called me by that nickname for the first time after the accident," she said, her voice more sullen, "But I continued to put on a smile for her, both her and my dad, live the lie my life had become."

She sighed, "Yet, despite it all, I liked it. Or maybe I had somehow convinced myself I did? It was just so easy, it was almost laughable how easy some will buy a lie. Maybe I just thought I was clever?" It was beginning hard to tell if her feelings were true or just another lie she told herself, "I just remembered feeling good, that whatever I was doing was working, so I kept doing it."

"And then your father got sick," Nooroo said, the scene changing to her parents' room.

* * *

Matteo was lying in bed, looking pale and weak, coughing and looking restless as he tried to sleep, with subtle signs of tossing and turning. Her mother and the young Lila coming in with some soup, medicine, and fluids.

Lila frowned, "My mom and I thought it was very sudden, how sick he got, but the doctor told us that he had to have known he was sick for several months, and he just kept it from us. Guess it runs in the family," She let out a short laugh, her frown quickly returning, "But by this point it was too serious for him to lie about it."

* * *

The memory changed to Lila at her father's bedside, telling him something as she fed him more soup, "He'd always ask me about my day, and of course I'd tell him what he wanted to hear. That everything was fantastic, I had so many friends at school, stuff like that. He was so proud of me...I couldn't remember the last time my father told me he was proud. I told myself that I was in too deep now, and that now that I had his approval I couldn't let him learn the truth. But of course it wasn't long after this that life decided to throw me another curve ball."

The memory followed the young girl as she left the room, and she she went into the kitchen her mother approached her, "Lila, I just heard the most wonderful news," she said, "Your friend Thea has woken up from her coma."

"A curveball indeed," Nooroo said, the memory changing once again.

* * *

The young girl was now walking down the hospital halls, she had come with her mother, but her mother started talking with Mrs. Cratcher and Lila decided to go on ahead.

"I was excited, my closest friend outside of my sister was awake and I couldn't wait to see her," Lila said, though he expression didn't look like she was looking forward to what she was about to watch.

They followed her inside the hospital room, "Hey Tiny," she said.

The petite girl, looking a bit thinner than they had last seen her and had a cast on her leg, was reading a book in bed and lit up when she saw who her visitor was, "Hey!" She said.

Lila watched her younger self rush over to the bed and gentle hug the small girl, her eyes already a bit moist, "It is so good to see you, things just aren't the same without you around," she said.

"Yeah, I heard what happened," Thea said, squeezing her friend a little tired, "I'm sorry about what happened to Lila,"

Lila swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat as she watched herself jump away from her friend's embrace, "Tiny, what are you talking about? I'm Lila."

Now Thea was confused, "No...you're Angela."

The younger Lila kept her composure, "Your head must still be a bit fuzzy from your coma recovery-"

"The only thing wrong with me is my leg," Thea interrupted, "The doctors said that there's nothing wrong with my head. But is something wrong with yours?"

"No, I'm Lila, not Angela!"

Thea shook her head, "I know you, Angela. This isn't good, convincing yourself and others that you're your dead twin sister, going as far as to change your look? Angela, you need to see a doctor, you're the one who's confused."

"I'm not confused, I'm Lila," Her facade was beginning to crack.

"We have to tell someone about this," Thea said, grabbing her bedside remote and hitting the 'Call Nurse' button. "I won't have you living a lie like this."

The young girl rushed forward and took the remote from her hands, "I'm not a liar, I'm Lila," she said, "Angela was the liar, not me."

It was dead silent after that, and Lila could see her younger self realizing what she just said, "This was a waste of time," she said, her expression become more cold as she put the remote down, "Have a quick recovery, or don't, I don't care anymore." She said as she turned and walked out of the room.

Lila turned to the girl on the hospital bed, and she felt a harsh pain in her chest at seeing her face, "Angela...come back. Please, don't go." Her dark green eyes, welling up with tears, her voice was hurt, sad, and betrayed.

The spirit sighed, "You loved your lie, more than that precious girl," he said, sadly, "So you drove her away, because you were afraid of the truth's consequences, especially what the truth would do to father. Though of course, did that really make much of a difference?"

* * *

The hospital faded away and was replaced with a graveyard, looked at a new grave marked 'Matteo Rossi', which stood next to the grave of 'Angela Rossi'.

* * *

"Nooroo, please, no more," Lila said, her voice soft and weak, "I know what happens after this, and I can't bear any more of these memories. Please, take me home."

Nooroo looked over at the girl, then nodded. A purple mist coming out of the ball and began to swirl around Lila. Then Nooroo left her with one last thought, "Remember Lila...or Angela, there were many things that were out of your control, such as what happened to your sister and your father. But a lot of these memories are much like your lies. You made them yourself."

* * *

Lila opened her eyes and sat up to see that she was back in her bed, and she was all alone. Nooroo was gone and there wasn't a single butterfly in her room anymore. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, then her fingers traveled to her forehead, tracing the scar she hid under her bangs.

She looked over at the clock, "1:08...that whole ordeal took place in only eight minutes?" she asked herself, did it even happen at all? Was it all just a dream? A very really emotional dream? She was too emotionally drained to care.

Sighing she laid back down and tried to go back to sleep, one last tear sliding down her cheek as she faded into slumber.

But her night had only just begun. One spirit had visited her, two more to go.

* * *

**-*X*x*X*-**

**And...scene.**

**What did you guys think? Did I make you cry? Did I help you feel pity/sorry for Lila? Do you think her past well explains why she the liar that she is?**

**Remember to leave a review, share with me your likes/dislikes, predictions, questions, anything like that in regards to this chapter. We've seen Lila's Past, but now what do you think her Present and Future has in store? Any and all reviews are appreciated!**

**QotC: There have been some parallels in this fic to the original story of _A Christmas Carol_, how many of them can you name (Like story elements and which characters are filling the role of who etc.)? Of course saying that 'Lila is Scrooge' is cheating/obvious and will not be accepted as an answer.**

**Alright, hopefully I'll have the next chapter ready in time for Wednesday, so until then. This is W.R. Winters signing off.**


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